Geocaching: The Forever Adventure

With the warm weather comes the spirit of outdoor adventure for some of us. Maybe the kids are away at sleepaway camp and you're looking for some fun activities for you and your partner; maybe the kids are up for an adventure themselves; maybe you're up for a solo challenge or looking for something to do with a friend; maybe you're looking to get your high schooler inspired (and out of bed before noon). Whatever your motivation, geocaching may be the perfect activity for those looking for a mental and/or physical challenge, or even just a fun way to kill a bit of time almost anywhere.

Geocaching is touted as "...an any day, any time adventure that can take you to amazing and beautiful places in the place you live or the places you want to visit," by www.geocaching.com. Essentially, with the help of one of any number of apps on your smartphone, it's a never ending outdoor scavenger hunt with strangers.

A geocache is an item, typically a container, that holds a number of items and has been hidden at a location whose coordinates are posted on the internet. Geocaching is the pastime of looking for a geocache and a geocacher is someone who...well, you get the idea. Usually there is a log book in the container so fellow geocachers can log their names once they find the treasure. Also geocachers are encouraged to log their find online and write about their experience. Some geocaches encourage an exchange of "knick knacks." One friend of mine took a marble and left an eraser. There are two million caches worldwide and this number is ever-increasing. In fact, there's more than one near you right now.

eocaches come in different shapes, sizes, and difficulties in terms of the terrain needed to traverse to get to the geocache as well as difficulty in terms of how hard the geocache is to find. For example, overall difficulty is rated on a scale of 1-5. Caches can be traditional in nature or they can be puzzle caches or mystery caches for the more advanced and adventurous. Cache size can be micro, small, regular, or large (and you can find size definitions on your app). They can be in the subway, underwater, at the end of a long hike, or any number of places. A geocache may be a large plastic container, a 35mm film container, a fake rock with a secret compartment. Part of the mystery and adventure is that most geocaches are completely different. I've only been geocaching once but it was in a forest in a suburb outside of Boston. We followed unmarked trails (versus the marked ones) for about 45 minutes. Using the app and some clues, (namely tiny one-inch-tall birdhouses that were nailed to trees along the way,) we found the geocache. The whole forest was transformed in this area. There was a fairy village set up (and there happened to be a live snake living in one fairy house) as well as train tracks that wrapped around the trees. My kids were amazed, possibly turning all future hikes into a disappointment.

There are guidelines that geocachers are asked to follow. If you take something from a geocache, you should leave something of equal or greater value. You should log your experience. Illegal items should not be placed in geocaches. Geocaches are never buried. Geocache sites recommend that geocachers check a log to see that someone has recently logged a find, indicating that the cache is in place and can be found. You can also hide a geocache yourself as long as you follow the appropriate guidelines.

The White Family tested out geocaching, unsure if their 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son would be into it. The verdict? "It's a really great way to combine techie interests with the outdoor and hiking," Sarah White said. "I think that for kids who are less active, it provides a good incentive to move and explore. The swag involved, like the trinkets in the box, were not the incentive as much as the treasure hunting aspect of geocaching."

You can walk out your front door right now and find a geocache nearby. Here are some local geocaches to get you started. Opening an account is free.

Please comment if you've been geocaching and share your experiences.